Turning Sorrow Into Success
Lessons from David when God was silent
Life is full of ups and downs. We set sail under clear skies and then, without warning, we're swamped by the raging seas. One moment everything goes our way and the next moment everything, and everyone, is against us. Quite honestly, it seems like there is no order to the chaos—the storms are random, meaningless, and uncontrollable.
Boy, that is hard to write…
But when I read the Scripture, I find assurance that the wind and waves aren’t meaningless. God uses them, and sometimes even orchestrates them, for His glory and for my good.
As I observe the life of David, I'm struck with the question, "When trials came, did David really know God’s hand was steering him?" As I read through the decades of his life, only in a few isolated instances do I see God revealing Himself to David. In 1 Samuel 16, God sends a prophet to anoint David King. In 2 Samuel 7, God tells David that his desire to build a temple will not be satisfied. In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet rebukes David for his adultery and murder.
Months, years, and even decades pass between the fleeting moments when God speaks to David. But what about all those in-between years? How did David respond to the winds and waves of life when he didn’t hear from God?
As a reader, we are privileged to meet the God behind the storm.
1 Sam 16:21-23
David came to Saul and stood before him. Saul liked him a great deal, and he became his armor bearer. Then Saul sent word to Jesse saying, “Let David be my servant, for I really like him.” So whenever the spirit from God would come upon Saul, David would take his lyre and play it. This would bring relief to Saul and make him feel better. Then the evil spirit would leave him alone.1 Sam 18:10-12
The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house. Now David was playing the lyre that day. There was a spear in Saul’s hand, and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions. So Saul feared David, because YHWH was with him but had departed from Saul.
The hand of God was continually helping David, nurturing him, and saving him but David didn’t always see him. David’s psalm suggests that he had doubts about God’s presence.
Psalms 10:1-4
Why, YHWH, do you stand far off?
Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble?
The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed;
the oppressed are trapped by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up.
Yes, the wicked man boasts because he gets what he wants;
the one who robs others curses and rejects YHWH.
The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,
“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”
God is continually turning sorrow into success, yet David couldn’t see it. Meanwhile, you and I, the readers, are privileged to flow above the storms and meet the God behind the chaos. We see YHWH at work so clearly because David’s story is written for us, yet David lived his days feeling alone and desperate for God.
At the height of his spiritual highs, David was never ashamed to worship God.
2 Sam 6:15-16
David and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD, shouting and blowing trumpets. As the ark of YHWH entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before YHWH, she despised him.
At the low of his lows, David gave into his passions and lust.
2 Sam 11:2-5
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
David sent some messengers to get her. She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) Then she returned to her home. The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”
Instead of repenting and facing the consequences of his sin, David tried to conceal it.
2 Sam 11:6-17
So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.
So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?” Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations with my wife? As surely as you are alive, I will not do this thing!” So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one. Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”
In grief, David finally faces the storm and cries out to God.
Psalms 38
O YHWH, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury!
For your arrows pierce me, and your hand presses me down.
My whole body is sick because of your judgment;
I am deprived of health because of my sin.
For my sins overwhelm me;
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
My wounds are infected and starting to smell,
because of my foolish sins.
I am dazed and completely humiliated;
all day long I walk around mourning.
For I am overcome with shame and my whole body is sick.
I am numb with pain and severely battered;
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.
O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;
my groaning is not hidden from you.
My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me; I can hardly see.
Because of my condition, even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; my neighbors stand far away…
Yet I wait for you, O YHWH! You will respond, O Lord, my God!…
Sometimes, like David, we’re screaming into the wind… wrecked, alone, and stranded because we steered our boat into the shallows. Have you ever done something you regret and felt like there was no escape from the course you set for yourself?
David’s life was filled with blessings and hardships, yet more often than not he couldn’t see God. History shows us that during the brightest days and darkest nights God was there. God was there to comfort David. God was there to redeem him. God was there to guide him. God was there to turn his greatest defeats into success.
In the same way, God is with you and me. We can't always see Him. We can’t always hear Him. Someday, when we look toward the horizon of our past we’ll see the story of our lives through God’s eyes. Someday we’ll know that YHWH was there shining through the sun, whispering through the storm, and turning every sorrow into success.
I will build a boat in the sand where they say it never rains
I will stand up in faith, I'll do anything it takes
With Your wind in my sails, Your love never fails or fades
I'll build a boat in the desert place
And when the flood and the water starts to rise, yeah
I'll ride the storm 'cause I got You by my side
With Your wind in my sails, Your love never fails or fades
I'll build a boat, so let it rain
You're the map, You're my compass
You help me navigate the currents underneath
Take the lead, I surrender
— Seth David Mosley, Colton Dixon, Sandro Cavazza, Johan Lindbrant, Mikey Gormley, Build a Boat, 2023